March 31st, 2014

In college, Dr. Stephen Meyer was fascinated by the discussion on the origin of life and the realization that there is evidence of design in the universe.

“Science has been out to disprove God, but in return, it has given powerful proof of the existence of God,” said Meyer, who is the founder and director of the Discovery Institute’s Center for Science and Culture.

Meyer, who received his Ph.D. in history and philosophy of science at Cambridge University, will be speaking at the Pensmore Dialogue at PHC on April 4-5. He is considered the founder of the Intelligent Design movement and has written extensively on the topic, including authoring The Signature of the Cell and Darwin’s Doubt. Meyer has been widely featured in media appearances on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, PBS, and the BBC, as well as an appearance with Ben Stein in Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and being prominently featured in the science documentaries Icons of Evolution, Unlocking The Mystery of Life, and Darwin’s Dilemma.

“I hope people of faith will renew their intellectual confidence in the credibility of their faith,” Meyer said. “I also hope skeptics of the possibility of the existence of God and evidence of Him in the universe will be challenged to consider these new possibilities.”

The question he thinks we should be asking ourselves is not what is this thing doing, but where did the information come from—the origin of information.

“We are discovering new and powerful evidence of intelligent design and the implications of that,” he said. “It can be the basis for theistic design. I am a Christian and believe it points decidedly toward God.”

Meyer explores three views on science and faith: they are separate and do not intersect, they are implausible, or they intersect.

“Science supports faith—it doesn’t contradict it,” he said. “The two go hand-in-hand. The evidence in the natural world points to God.”

Meyer said there is a conflict in world-views about what the nature of science is. He sees a culture that challenges intelligent design because it is not the consensus viewpoint, but he thinks that what really matters is what is true—not what is popularly accepted.

“Who says what science is? There isn’t a pope of science. It’s not constricted to materialistic entities,” he said, referring to those who have a prejudiced understanding of science that does not include intelligent design because it is not materialistic.

“Since the time of Darwin, they have been trying to refute intelligent design with rules of science, but we are challenging that because it prevents science,” he said. “We need to look at what the evidence says rather than make assumptions.”

He believes it has created a barrier to see the truth because people are hung up on what to call science and how to classify it. “We cannot and are not trying to prove intelligent design,” he said. “But, I am as-sessing the evidence, and it is the best explanation,” Meyer said.

“Worldview has to answer what the origin of life is, the thing from which everything else comes. Matter and energy alone do not explain the origin of information,” Meyer said. “Our natural world points to something that is beyond matter—that transcends matter, space, and time.”